The total number of international freight shipments was 186 million in July, the latest international shipping data from the International Maritime Organization shows.


Of these, 148.7 million were carried by containers (96.2% of global container movement), 121.7 million by dry bulk ships (7.7%) and 9.2 million by other commercial transport vessels.

September is the third straight month that international freight shipment numbers have risen. It was only the second time that the monthly data has turned positive in almost 15 years, according to the IMO. The other time was February 2014.

Year-to-date international freight numbers were 290.3 million, down 7.7% from the same period last year, the data show.

Forwarders have benefited from the increase in container cargo numbers, as the number of international freight container shipments delivered to their freight forwarders has increased by 6.3% year-over-year, to 128.2 million, the IMO said. The total number of freight.